London/New York Rivalry Stops (Well, Temporarily)

New York and London have always had a bit of rivalry going on, about who's best. In recent times, London seems to have got the edge - New York's Mayor, for example, expressed worries that London was moving ahead as the world's financial centre. And frankly, we know that our chocolate's a hell of a lot better.

But now Mayor Bloomberg has gone further. Announcing his new plans to combat climate change, he commended London's congestion charge as "the best in the world" and promised a New York version at some point in the future. He's likely to make it much cheaper than ours - at about £4.

It sounds like the the former arch rivals are beginning to learn from each other rather than just competing.

So expect our own Mayor Ken to start acting a bit 'sassy', pledging a massive increase in gun crime, and proposing a new London-based series of Friends. The million-dollar question has to be - Will the British Consulate-General in New York refuse to pay the new charge just as the US Embassy has in London?